


Stories and Stars

by Anarchy-Schmanarchy (Murder_Schmurder)



Series: Ink like tracks in your skin [4]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: Boreal Boys, Built Family, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Slice of Life, Stargazing, Storytelling, Tattoo AU, but uh. like one mention of tattoos, ranboo introspection, tattoo!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29636154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murder_Schmurder/pseuds/Anarchy-Schmanarchy
Summary: Philza cheers, and Techno makes a noise not dissimilar to the teakettle earlier. He’s grinning, though, and Ranboo finds himself responding in kind.“I win!” Philza says, laughing. “Alrigh, Ranboo, that gets you a free story. Which one do you want to hear about?”An interlude set during my other fic "To Remember and to Never Forget", but it makes sense on its own too. Just fluff and boreal boys bonding.
Relationships: Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Ink like tracks in your skin [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169045
Comments: 8
Kudos: 242





	Stories and Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I love them so much this is so fun to write

After Techno had helped Philza out of the snow drift, on the promise that Philza wouldn’t try to steal his protege, (which Ranboo still found…. strange. Nice, but strange. Techno’s sudden protectiveness was not one he understood but he wasn’t going to say no, no way.) they finished clearing off the roof.

Then Philza sits himself down with a groan, proclaiming his old bones are tired, and stretching out his legs with a wince that tells Ranboo he’s only half joking. He shares a look with Techno, just briefly, and he knows he’d seen it too. 

No moving for now, then. 

“You know, the stars look lovely tonight,” Techno says, obviously trying to distract, and Philza’s laugh is somewhat pained.

“Sure do, mate.” 

“Say, Ranboo, do you know anything about the constellations?” Techno continues. Ranboo shakes his head. 

“What are they?” he adds, because while the word is almost familiar, he can’t quite grasp it.

Techno blinks, and then grins, broad and dangerous.

“You got any blankets? We’ll be up here for a while.” 

Ranboo does indeed have blankets, and when he slips down to grab them he hesitates for only a moment before grabbing some fresh bread rolls, buns, and a few apples. He fills the kettle with water and sets it over the ever-burning fire before he lugs his haul up to the roof. 

Philza is standing now, leaning most of his weight on Techno. They’re talking softly, a conversation Ranboo has no interest in listening into. He spreads the blankets quickly, hands Philza another one once he’s seated once more. Philza thanks him, and Ranboo drops the food in a little pile between the three of them.

Techno raises an eyebrow. Ranboo gestures between the three of them.

“You said we’d be up here for a while. I’ve been working all day, I don’t know how you’re not starving,” he complains, and it gets a laugh out of both of them. 

“Fair enough,” Techno says, picking up an apple and biting into it. Philza grabs a cinnamon bun, and Ranboo doesn’t quite have time to steal one for himself before a low whistling cuts through the stillness and he curses, scrambling off the roof without grace.

“What sort of tea?” he asks, voice loud enough to carry up to the roof. He hears a muffled “lavender” and sets to work. Enderchest had heard the commotion as well, and she’s no help tangling around his legs as he tries to balance three cups, a jar of honey, and the still scalding hot kettle up the ladder. Techno is there to meet him, this time, an amused look on his face and grabbing the kettle without a care. It hisses with steam when he puts it down on the still slightly-snowy rooftop. 

  
  


“You’re really going all out, huh?” Philza asks, but accepts the cup without complaint. Ranboo remembers a flicker of conversation, something about soothing qualities.

He shrugs as he sits down for the final time, Enderchest immediately settling into his lap with a purr. He pets her gently, making sure to rest his teacup far away to not risk burning her. 

“At least I remember how to be a good host,” he says, voice light, and Philza almost chokes on his tea with laughter as Techno grumbles. It’s light, and easy, and Ranboo had never thought he could have this in a million years.

“So, constellations?” he prompts after a moment, and Techno abandons his faux-offense immediately.

“The constellations are ways ancient people used to tell stories. Painting pictures in the stars to accompany their legends.” His voice has taken on that sagelike quality, and Ranboo is immediately drawn in. Techno is an excellent storyteller, but he doesn’t do it often. 

Philza snorts. Techno immediately glares at him.

“The real constellations, that is. Not the  _ fake ones,”  _ he continues. Ranboo recognises that tone as well: This is an old argument, ones they fall into sometimes, like dancers pacing well-trodden steps and never breaking stride. 

“They’re not fake, mate. Not more fake than yours.”

They’re always funny, always entertaining, but it does make Ranboo feel - well, new. Left out. There’s a shared history here that feels almost sacred, and he doesn’t want to ruin the harmony of their dance. 

“They’re real!” Techno exclaimed, gesturing broadly. “The greek stories - “

But well… he fiddles with the new earring Techno helped him with. It had been painful, but not nearly as much as he’d feared. Techno had been gentle, in his own gruff way. Besides, Ranboo recognised the forced indifference Techno had shown when he pressed the earring into his hands. The emerald had a twin in Philza’s cape clasp, in one of Techno’s own studs. 

There was something there. Something new. So maybe new wasn’t so bad.

“Well, I don’t know this “greek” you’re talking about,” Philza shoots back. “Besides, it’s all made up anyway.”

That draws an unwilling snort out of Ranboo, and in a moment both of them are looking at him. He clutches his teacup tighter.

“What do you think, Ranboo?” Techno asks. Ranboo hesitates, then sighs.

“I think… I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

That draws a laugh from both of them. Techno huffs.

“Alright, alright. Here’s the thing. The greek constellations that I’m talking about, symbolize different myths. Like… waypoints. Anchors. Sources. You can find Theseus up there, and Hercules - a lot about Hercules, actually. It’s how the stories are passed down. They’re  _ important _ ,” he glares at Philza, “Because they have meaning. Like warnings, or understanding of our own past.”

“And  _ my _ constellations,” Philza says, a laugh in his voice, “Are also made-up stories about clusters of stars, only I made them up while I was in my isolated world. It was all about the legends of that world, of the battles and scars and gods that lived there. They’re important because they have  _ meanings  _ and  _ warnings _ and  _ understanding the past. _ And because they’re fun.” 

The two of them turn to Ranboo expectantly. He blinks, tries to think over their words.

“Well, I mean… Sorry, Techno, but uh. I think Philza’s are closest to the primary source, right? You say those are important. And the Greek ones have been twisted through centuries. So I think Philza’s are… maybe truer?”

Philza cheers, and Techno makes a noise not dissimilar to the teakettle earlier. He’s grinning, though, and Ranboo finds himself responding in kind.

“I win!” Philza says, laughing. “Alrigh, Ranboo, that gets you a free story. Which one do you want to hear about?” 

Ranboo points to a random point in the southern night sky. There’s many stars there, clustered together in smaller groups. Philza squints for a second, then smiles.

“Oh, that is the Ocean king!” Philza grins. You see how those form a tail, and then up into raised arms - that bright one, right there -”

“Sirius,” Techno mutters.

“Shut up Techno,” Philza says, with the same warm tone of explanation. “That one is his crown jewel, shining bright, allowing his kingdom to continue to flourish even in his absence. He’s halfway over the horizon - he’s just been visiting the Blaze Empress, I imagine.”

“The Blaze Empress?” Ranboo asks, but before Philza can continue, Techno cuts in.

“One story, you said,” He argues. “My turn. Over there, on the southern horizon -” he pauses, squints, and Ranboo is suddenly reminded of how Techno always carries his glasses around the house, how he brews altered potions of night vision in order to carry him through battles. It’s dangerous knowledge - a weakness that Techno has had to share, with Ranboo so close by. Ranboo is determined to prove worthy of that trust, and so speaks up.

“Is it to do with the bright star, that one?” He points, and after a second he nods. 

“Yes. Sirius - meaning glowing - is the eye of  _ Canis Major, _ or Laelaps. He is the greatest hunting dog there ever was. It’s hunting  _ Canis Minor _ ,” he gestures slightly higher up, to another cluster of stars, “across the night sky. Zeus banished them up there, to continue their endless hunt.” 

“See, I say that does not look like a fox,” Philza says once Techno has finished. “I think that looks like....” he pauses. “A ruler.” 

“Wha - Philza! You can’t just make up a new constellation!” Techno blusters, and Ranboo laughs.

“The ruler?” He prompts. Philza laughs. His voice is still tired, still slightly pained, but Ranboo is not going to comment. Besides, this has to be a good distraction.

“Yeah, the ruler. So… Once upon a time there was a ruler, whose lands were vast and gorgeous. You see, it had a secret weapon…”

Ranboo settles in, drifting slightly as he pets enderchest and listens to the story. To Techno interrupting, to the familiar joking argument that soon turns around to continuing the tale, now with Techno’s additions making it more dramatic. 

This… This was good.

This was a good night. He’d have to write it down, although he doubts words could capture the absolute comfort of this moment. 

Ranboo’s eyes snag on the constellation, a wonky circle of stars with several others scattered above it. A globe with a crown, a world created to carry the weight of the ruler’s crown. 

He looks down at Enderchest again, and for a moment, imagines the constellation’s pattern etched into the black skin of his right arm. Ranboo blinks and the image is gone, but the idea has rooted itself firmly in his mind. The white ink he’d spotted in Philza’s stash burns in his memory, a startlingly clear moment in the grey fog of his past.

He glances at Philza, legs still stretched out and eyes bright with exhaustion even as he laughs at Techno’s antics. 

He’d have to ask later. 

For now, he settles in to enjoy the night, the voices of his - his friends, the warmth of that idea enough to battle the cold snap of the arctic night. 

Later. This was now, and he wanted to stay here for as long as possible.


End file.
